CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

******
“Repeat that doctor !!” It was Sean who spoke

”I am saying that you are the father of the little girl in that room according to what the tests says here, 99.9 percent accurate, DNA identical, blood type similar, you are the biological father of Kikina Alexis-Grace. You did not know this?” The doctor is confused

”What the hell are you saying Doctor, that she is my daughter? HOW THE HELL IS THAT EVEN SOMETHING REMOTELY POSSIBLE?”

”That must be a mistake, I think your machine is sick and so are you, are you even sure it read it right?” Zachary pushes the doctor aside and peeks, not understanding anything “Okay I have not the darnedest idea what it is saying”

”Look?” the nurse points to Kiki’s blood and her genes and then she points at the other side of the screen showing them what they saw..

”I- I do not understand… she isn’t my child!! I mean, I only just met her mother recently, never being intimate and then how the hell do I have a child who is four year old? This is a mistake!!” Sean says disbelieving

”Don’t move, we are still taking blood!!” the nurse warns, Sean wants to get up

”I don’t get what you are saying” The doctor shakes his head

”Me neither !! So explain to us Doctor how this immaculate conception happened!!”

”I am sorry Sir but that is what the result says…I don’t know how to explain to you but it shows that kiki is your biological daughter by 95% possibility… that is no lie, that is a fact”

Sean is speechless, so is Zachary… in all this..Tonia has been quiet…suddenly she is moving towards the door, to escape… to get to Megan.. they see her.

”Tonia!! I do not see you telling the doctor that he is crazy… I do not see you saying so or unless we are missing something here why the hell do you not look surprised or shocked about this ridiculous outburst and you are running away because you want to hide something?” Sean says suddenly

”I swear I thought I was the only one who noticed her silence, something is fishy”‘

Tonia turns, slowly…”it isn’t my place to-“”

”WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!” Sean thunders.. ”this Doctor clearly confused is ranting something this ridiculous and I am flabbergasted and so is my friend but this doctor and his nurse apparently are convinced I have a child who is four years old who is lying on that bed and God knows I have never been with her mother before much less… to have a four year old kid with her and he says I am her father… and you… you stand here and say nothing, not help to refute that claim but you say it is not your place? NOT YOUR PLACE? What the hell does that mean and why are you leaving the room like a thief, like you know something we don’t know!!!” he shouts

”Take it easy sir!!” the doctor calms him down

“Don’t tell me to take it easy, take this away from my harm, you lying lousy doctors!!” Sean wants to remove the needle

”We need your blood for kiki Sean ” Tonia reminds him

He sighs loudly…he seats back down, ”Kiki? His daughter, what a lying doctor.” He laughs “Oh nice one though really nice..”‘

”It’s the truth Sean… Kiki is your daughter!!” Tonia states nodding her head

”What the fxxk!!! When did you go on and get that little monster and I didn’t know?” Zachary turns to him in disbelieve

”Shut up Zachary, she isn’t!”

”Believe it or not!! Kiki is yours and I think you need to talk to Megan, it really is not my place!!” with that she walks away

Zachary stares at Sean who stares at the doctor..

”This wouldn’t lie”‘ Doctor says walking away

”’Nurse, tell me that this isn’t accurate that this tests and all isn’t?” Sean wanted to know

”Except you want me to lie, that girl in there is yours!” she leaves them both after taking his blood

”What the hell just happened bro?”

Sean gets up heading out not answering him, Zachary chases after him.

*****

”Megan, Megan!!” Tonia comes running out,

Megan was shouting at her father and her mother was trying to pull her away as she screams at him, this time, Charles is quiet as tears fall from his eyes.

He had come to talk to her while the others were inside, trying to talk to his wife who wouldn’t listen to him, he had gone to Megan.

”Forgive me, forgive me please”‘ he begs

”All these years I cried myself to sleep, praying for the day you will open the door to me and pull me in and tell me you love and you forgive me for my mistake, all this years I stayed away because I was too hurt very time you reject my calls, don’t reply my messages. I missed you both, prayed for you both and needed you both, yes I was young and careless and every day I tried to live right to pay for my carelessness. On my own I did okay without your help, on my own I did fine, with my baby girl… she is everything to me, my light in the dark… everything, she gave me hope and I didn’t care anymore that he didn’t know if she is his, I didn’t because with her… everything was enough.

I lived for her..on blue days and gloomy days when I think it’s too hard to go on.. I think of her of wanting a better life for her and V pick myself up ..and I lived for my baby. And I always prayed that one day you forgive me papa, I did..

Every time I went there, waiting outside the door I wanted you to hold me like you did, tell me I am your baby girl, your princess, your darlyne like you used to and tell me it’s okay, that I can come home but all I saw in your eyes was hatred and I prayed that it would go away….but it didn’t. Now I wish you had ever come, I wished I had never wanted your forgiveness, because if you hadn’t come, my baby girl wouldn’t be on that bed fighting to survive right now..you did all this and right now….my mistake is a dent….you almost pushed my daughter to her death and I can’t forgive you for this…so get away from me , from mum because I will not allow my mother to leave under the same roof with a man who chased his granddaughter to her accident.. it is because of you she is in there and I will never forgive you.

Now it is I who doesn’t want to see you, it is I who hates you and no matter how much you beg for forgiveness you will never get it”‘

”Megan please, forgive me, I realized my mistake, I was wrong, I swear I will make amends, I was wrong… my anger and pain and… forgive me… I love you!”

”Love me? Take your love and shove it papa!! From this moment you are dead to me, don’t touch me don’t you dare” she hits her father’s hands away as he tries to pull her to him, he is crying, he is begging, she is slapping him off, Ruth comes between her, her eyes red.

”I know he has done wrong Megan, but look at him, he is broken, this has opened his eyes, he has been the hardest man to live with I know but he is your father”‘

”He is no father of mine, isn’t that what you said papa… so here, you are no father of mine too”‘

God had spared him, God has saved the girl… he has to do right by his family and even if he has to come down from this high horse… he will.

He lost his girl once, he wouldn’t do it again..

”No, Megan” he holds her tight ”Please Megan, I am soo so sorry” he cries falling to the ground like a child.. no matter how much she wanted to resist, to inflict pain… to be hateful… she had to realize that she had never seen her father like this… never hear him go so low to apologize… never has she seen him cry and beg, not even her mother, not until today.. she sees her mother sobbing hugging herself… turning away.

A love a woman has for her husband shows even in her pain, so does the love a child has for a father even in his wrong and in her pain… she hurt him, he hurt her… where was the silver lining in all this.

Forgiveness!!

Is that not what it was all about? Was it not all she wanted from the start, isn’t it what he wants now. Wasn’t it what we ask of God on the daily when we mess up on a daily? Doesn’t God forgive us… in our worst..?

Why shouldn’t she then do the same? But she was hurting, madly, her daughter was too… Kiki heard it all. It could affect her psychologically, Kiki was..smart and intuitive yet sensitive. How does she protect her daughter from it all…

Would she wake up to find out that her family was still dysfunctional from the start or would she get a certain peace around her when she finally gets to see her family is back together, and she also gets to meet her grandfather too..

Isn’t that all she wanted, her family back.. isn’t that it?.

He was still crying, her mother too. So she makes the decision even in her pain.. she goes to him, she kneels down, cleaning her eyes

She grabs him hugging him to herself as he does the same, Ruth cries from where she stands watching her family..

”Mum!!” ? Megan calls her, Ruth goes to them on their knees as they cry together.

Tonia watches them, not sure whether to disrupt the family reunion or not, she was thankful to God for this ..

But … Megan has to have a heads up

“MEGAN!!?”

They turn breaking apart rushing to her “What’s wrong, what’s wrong with Kiki?”

”Not Kiki Megan, Sean knows , Sean knows !!!” she says

”Sean knows what??” Megan’s thoughts didn’t catch up

Just then Sean appears behind Tonia , Zachary with him

”He knows that Kiki is his daughter !!” Tonia finishes unaware that Sean was behind her

”Oh God!!!”

”Is that true Megan, that Kiki is my daughter?” Sean breathes, this isn’t making sense

They all turn.. everyone seemed confused except Megan and Tonia.

“Just tell him Megan, just tell the truth!!”‘ Tonia touches her arm

Charles and Ruth stare at Sean, then at Megan and at Tonia, then it dawns on them

”Is he kiki’s father, is he the one that got you pregnant four years ago and didn’t want to believe you when you told him you were pregnant and he left you on the street driving away.. is he Sean O’Conner?” her father asks

Megan closes her eyes and opens it..

Today, today she bares it all. ”Yes !! father, he is Sean O’Conner ” she answers her father, then looking at the shocked Sean “‘And you are Kiki’s father ”

Everything went blank after that as Sean hits the floor .

******

He didn’t know how long he was out for, but when he wakes Zachary is helping him up and putting him on a chair, his vision was blurred but he could see Zachary smiling.

”Dude you fainted” Zachary teases him

”I didn’t faint!” Sean rubs the back of his head, he thanks the nurse who gives him a patch of ice to put to his head

”Yes you fainted, like a girl you fainted !!” Zachary laughs

”Shut up fool!!”

”I swear it was like in the movies, they tell a girl some kind of news and she swoons… awwnn falling flat on the ground, you freaking fainted like a bitch, I knew you was a girl, a disgrace to the entire manhood, give me your dxxk… we need to send it to Jesus to change it for a Gina!” Zachary bursts out laughing

”Shut up Zachary, I hate you!!”

”I love you too” He says laughing helping Sean up ”So while you were taking a brief five minutes snap, I have been brought up to speed… first, doctor said you are okay, he checked you out, just a brief electrical shock and then he checked your head, you remember that fall, years ago did something to you, he said something about looking through your MRI scan, due to your fall, you had temporary amnesia you remember? A while back years ago? When you got back your memory a few others were blocked and he said since it was temporary amnesia you should remember everything but you didn’t..he said it was as if you were blocking some memory… Unconsciously without doing it on purpose..maybe out of shock, whatever it was, caused you to block out some selected memories under 24-72 hours lost, he said some medical mumble jumble and adds that it’s the reason why you are unable to remember certain incidence. Yes, I told him you had a fall right out graduation, after that crazy party you dig.. so I told him it was my fault and that I got you high and stoned on drugs and he says that’s the reason some memory was suppressed; Intoxication of intense alcohol plus drugs and then after the fall, see how it was hard for you to remember anything? Because it felt like it never happened… you was blank from the beginning..kind off”

”I have no idea what you are talking about” Sean rubs his temple

”Stupid!! You remember one time years ago you told me about some chick who showed up at your door step claiming she was pregnant with your kid? You called the name then but we didn’t know who that was because… well who the hell was she right? So you kept being bothered about it for a couple of days and that is it. Now I remember, I remember that the name you called is the same name, the same Megan Philips!! How come it didn’t click?”

Sean is staring at him

“I know you are confused so Let me refresh your memory. Megan explained it to me, that night, at that party, you were pretty knocked out, I know that because we were juiced up right? I gave you them pills..I always give you pills” he scratches his head

“Anyways, I remember us going gaga all over the place, and then poof you ran away somewhere into the house and you remember telling me the next day you remember, that we couldn’t remember jack of what happened and then well, Megan said that she too was high and stoned that night and then you guys..were ..erm in the same room and then..oh-ah-oh-yes-yes!”

”Dude! dude stop, you are making my head hurt” Sean says

Zachary smiles broadly ”Its official Sean, you are a baby daddy and I am an uncle. To the little monster!! What was the odds of that ever happening…!” he laughs slapping Sean’s head

When he fainted, it wasn’t because of the news… it was because everything Megan’s father said brought back memories… it was a blur, it hurts his head… then he blanks.

He shakes his head as he steps away from Zachary, to Megan who is staring at the window, away from her family..

”I am sorry Sean, but I couldn’t do anything, Megan made me promise not to” Tonia says ”And with good reason”

Sean shakes his head, “‘I know Tonia, I don’t blame you.”‘

Her parents are seated together holding hands, Megan is hugging herself, away from them all facing the window.

“Megan?”

She turns “Why didn’t you tell me?” Sean wanted to know, he was dying to know why she choose to keep it away from him. His Child, his daughter.

”I did, but you didn’t believe me, I tried to explain how it happened, but you didn’t want to give me a tiny moment of your day… you laughed at my face and you left me chasing after you on the streets, I thought you would come home and I went back to check a couple of times, but they said you relocated, they wouldn’t give me a number either… I did tell you”

”I don’t mean then, I was stupid and young then, I know… I meant when I came back?”

She sniffs chuckling, ”What was I supposed to do running into you in her school? Hey Sean, remember me Megan, the girl at graduation party who got stoned and high and was stupid enough to have sex with a total stranger who was equally stoned and high and hey guess what..that four year old girl you are talking to is your daughter, hurrah!” she raises up her hands and then drops it, turning away

”Don’t please, I had a right to know Megan, she is my daughter”‘

”No, you lost that right the moment you didn’t care”

”You can’t hold a young boy over something he had no control over, like you said I was high and stoned, hell Meg I didn’t remember what happened that night, I didn’t remember it all at all… I had an accident that period, with my head.. I had temporary amnesia for a bit, but after a few days it was gone, returned later but graduation period was a blur… up until now, and every time I try to think hard about something , I know it hurts..but, that is no excuse Megan, that boy Sean was messed up, immature, careless. That boy Megan made mistakes but I know that if I knew for sure then, that I was going to be a father, I wouldn’t have gone”‘

”Right!! Like you would give up your life for a stranger ?”

”No!! But you would have to be taken care of, the baby too… even if I was too immature to think it through.. my father would have made me own up to my mistakes, my flaws… he would have made sure I took responsibility “‘

”Well” she cleans her nose “You never gave me the benefit of the doubt, you didn’t listen. I guess we don’t know if the boy Sean would have cared”

”And the man Sean, you think I would run the other way”‘

She is silent

“Now I understand why you hate me, I see it all clearly now… you hated me because I left, I didn’t accept a child we both made, you hated me because… because of me, you and your family had issues, you got separated from them when you left and it burned bridges, you hated me because you had to carry the shame and stigma of being a single mum, survived it through all alone… you hate me because of my absence… Kiki became vulnerable to the taunts of not having a father, she became withdrawn and sensitive… that is why she didn’t have friends right? That is why she feels so detached around others… you hate me because of the things you couldn’t do but gave up because of kiki… right Megan, that is why you hate me? Because I wasn’t around to avert it all by accepting, my child?”

”Yes, I hated you because you didn’t, because you didn’t’!” she sobbed ”and when you came back and Kiki’s sudden attachment to you… I hated you even more” she says

”Í am sorry Megan, I am truly really sorry” he says trying to touch her arm, his chest is closing, his heart racing, tears fall off his eyes ”I am sorry for not being there for our baby, I am sorry for my lack, my irresponsibility and for everything, for all that you went through… for all Kiki had to be put through, I am sorry… I am here now, and I swear I will make it up to my child, I swear it”

”You can’t make up four years lost Sean”

”No I can’t, but I can make the rest of her life worth it.” He holds his head as it felt like it was expanding and he places a hand to his chest as love washes over him due to the revelation” I can’t believe Kikina… that she is my daughter I… I cannot believe that I am a father,” he says turning away from her, cleaning his eyes but more tears fall off…”I am a father Zachary, a father to a beautiful girl, Kiki is my daughter!!” he says laughing..”Oh shit!! It makes sense now, the allergies… we are both allergic to nuts, and the coughs too, that fever with a cold…and …oh dang I should have sensed it, I mean… there was this feeling of warmth when I see her, when her smiles lights up into my eyes… she looked familiar I told myself once, something familiar about Kiki, well it’s because she has my blood!! My genes, she is my baby, she is MY GIRL!!” he goes to Zachary who laughs hugging him

”I am a father, a father!!” he goes to her mother and then father, hugging them ”A father !! forgive me.. forgive my absence. Forgive me. I am a father, a father!!”‘ he hugs a laughing Tonya..

Megan cleans her tears , he comes back to her “‘I promise you Megan, I will be the best father in the world, I will.” He pulls her into a hug crushing her to him ”Forgive me, please forgive me Megan, I didn’t know, I was stupid… I was stupid I didn’t know. I will do right by kiki, I will do right starting today by our baby girl. No, she is no mistake Megan… she isn’t..” he hugs her tight holding her close, she doesn’t struggle, she doesn’t push him away. ”Forgive me” he begs, she felt his tears on her shoulders “Forgive me!!” he kept repeating as he cries in her hair

As he closes his eyes, it comes flooding back now as the tears flow… he remembers it all, that day at his house when a girl stood at his door, before then… earlier, graduation day, him and Zack talking about a party… then the drinks and juiced drinks, Zachary running about screaming ”Cock-roach, he staggering upstairs… the girl… the ice-cream…making love… again and again that night. He remembers it, no wonder he thought he knew her, her scent and taste was etched into his memory… they had brought a child, a beautiful child into the world..

“Forgive me Megan”‘

Her heart breaks ”There is nothing to forgive Sean, I have no more strengths to hold grudges, it’s a relief actually now, I have no more strength for nothing more. She is our daughter, you better make up for lost times… that is all”

”I will do more than that” he reassures her

”There is one tiny little detail missing, how are you going to break the news to her that her daddy isn’t in heaven and is not dead but her daddy is Sean?” Tonia taps her jaw

They all turn to Megan, Sean stares down at her, she stutters “That one is on you” her parents and everyone points to Megan

”I-I erm i’m sorry about the part that you were dead, it seemed like the best option at the moment, sorry Sean” she bites her lips

”It’s okay… don’t worry you don’t have to tell her alone, we would do it together”

“I don’t mean to disrupt the family reunion but she is awake now, you can see her briefly” the Doctor interrupts them

”Oh thank God” They are rushing to her room

”You need to wash off those stains from your body so you don’t scare the kid” The Doctor points to them, Sean and Megan stare down at their blood stained cloths. They forgot all about it.

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Stephanie Egberike is a graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, where she studied Sociology.
She runs an Ushering and Events Agency based in Port Harcourt called " De-vonte".
When she is not busy chasing life and hustling on the bright side of the streets, she is a prolific writer, content developer and a creative story teller.
She writes creative short story series for Www.Madivas.com, on their African stories categories amongst others.
When she isn't writing she is busy enjoying life, loving her family and being a free spirit.
She is a lover , a friend , a child , a bosslady, God’s own. And she likes to call her fingers "ItchyFingers".. A big smiler and an indepth thinker.

@least this time the “wait” wasn’t that long.Zachary is a funny character but a good friend. Men who r reading this amazing story,when drunk n high,put a padlock on yo pants.Sean was lucky he got a girl,u on the other hand might not b so lucky. Stay safe.